Palace: 3 BI personnel sacked over Russian vlogger's contents while in jail

Malacañang on Thursday said some personnel of the Bureau of Immigration were sacked after it was found that Russian vlogger Vitaly Zdorovetskiy was still able to record content while in detention.

''Because of that, marami po ang natanggal, tatlo po ang natanggal na Immigration official because of that at marami pong na-confiscate na mga cellphone,'' Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Atty. Claire Castro said at a briefing.

(Three Immigration officials were sacked and some cellphones were confiscated.) 

Castro said the investigation on this matter would continue to address lapses on the part of jail officials. 

''Pero kung mayroon pa pong iba na maaaring masabi natin na nagkakaroon ng kakulangan ay paiimbestigahan pa po ito at kailangan matanggal ang dapat na matanggal sa posisyon kung mayroong pang-aabuso,'' she added.

(All other issues will be investigated and those who must be sacked will be sacked in case there were abuses.)

She said the videos taken while Vitaly was in detention were made during the early time of his arrest.

To recall, Vitaly was nabbed by authorities for allegedly harassing people for content. 

He was deported to Russia and was blacklisted from returning to the Philippines. — Anna Felicia Bajo/RSJ, GMA Integrated News